A former IRS lawyer-turned-whistleblower is calling out Democrats over their recently passed spending bill that funds 87,000 new IRS enforcement agents, auditors, and other staff members over the next decade.
Democrats have claimed that the massive expansion of the agency is meant primarily to target the wealthiest Americans and corporations to ensure they pay ‘their fair share’ of taxes, but the former agency lawyer, William Henck, calls that “bulls**t.”
Henck, who was forced out after he blew the whistle on internal operational malfeasance, told FOX Business that his old employer will most definitely be targeting middle-class earners under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The outlet reports:
Henck, who worked at the IRS for 30 years until departing in 2017, slammed the IRS and others who have argued additional funding would only result in increased audits for billionaires and corporations. The Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden is slated to sign into law this week, would nearly double the IRS’ budget, appropriating an additional $79 billion to the agency over the next decade.
“The idea that they’re going to open things up and go after these big billionaires and large corporations is quite frankly bulls–t,” Henck told the outlet. “It’s not going to happen. They’re going to give themselves bonuses and promotions and really nice conferences.”
“The big corporations and the billionaires are probably sitting back laughing right now,” he continued — which would make sense, given that high earners fund political campaigns.
The former agency lawyer went on to say he thought it was “insane” to double the IRS budget, adding that auditors will be going after smallish and medium-sized businesses that don’t have the money to hire high-powered D.C. lobbyists (and lawyers).
According to a House GOP analysis, Americans earning less than $75,000 annually will be subjected to 711,000 new IRS audits under the measure. The analysis used historic audit rates as a measure.
By comparison, those making $500,000 or more will experience an additional 95,000 audits as a result of the legislation.
FOX Business reported that IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig refuted the GOP analysis — of course — by saying that “audit rates” were going to stay the same and that the legislation was “absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans” (is this political appointee getting…political?)
Also, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the press last week that no new audits will be initiated against earners making less than $400,000 a year.
Henck isn’t buying it.
“There will be considerable incentive to basically to shake down taxpayers, and the advantage the IRS has is they have basically unlimited resources and no accountability, whereas a taxpayer has to weigh the cost of accountants, tax lawyers — fighting something in tax court,” he told FOX Business.
He also said that the new IRS hires will be assigned easier cases, which will include small business audits.
“If you own a roofing company, you better count on getting audited because that’s what they’re going to be doing,” he said. “They’re going to be going after your car dealerships, roofing companies.”
He went on to say that during his decades at the agency, he would see auditors target elderly taxpayers including World War II vets because they could be easily coerced into settlements.
“I protested both internally and externally, but I was ignored,” he told the outlet. “In their last days on Earth, these taxpayers were being bullied by the same government they had fought for as young men and no one cared.”
